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Best of CES Unveiled in New York; Gadgets, Earth, Wind and Fire

A horde of NYC tech journalists, bloggers and analysts descended upon NYC’s Metropolitan Pavilion tonight for CES Unveiled, the “official NYC Press event” for the Consumer Electronics Association. The event, mostly attended to hang out with established contacts, pick up enviable amounts of USB drives and nosh on free food and wine, unveiled product advancements on the level of micro-excitement.

The no-contract, pre-paid wireless provider revealed that they will release 2 new Android devices– one smartphone and one tablet in early 2011. A pre-paid tablet is pretty neat. Cricket, a subsidiary of Leap Wireless, recently announced that they’ve partnered with Sprint to offer 3G roaming where Cricket’s Wireless network is unavailable. Their PR rep also told us that Cricket will unveil a new music service in January, although I couldn’t squeeze him for any details.

2) Samsung Continuum on Verizon set to release on November 11 for $199

The Galaxy S saga continues…The Samsung Continuum is the first smartphone featuring a dedicated “Ticker,” which features a clock, current weather conditions, notifications for SMS, Email, Social Media, etc and RSS Feeds.

3) Xi3Repeat after me. All a PC needs are brains, memory, input/output systems and power. Say it three times fast and the time has come for you to build your own Xi3 Modular Computer. The computer is easy to repair and upgrade, adaptable and uses much less power than your average Dell, Sony or MacBook. Plus, look how cute!

4) Lutron, the electronics corporation revealed their futuristic “automated Venetian blinds,” and an app that lets you control the lights in your home via your iPad or iPhone, as long as they are on Lutron’s Radio Raw system.

5) For those of you who drive cars it’s worth checking out the Autobot, which lets you control your car, track its GPS location, monitor its health and security and send out emergency alerts in the most tech savvy way possible.

7) Soundcage unveiled DIY custom fit by earphones with technology by Sonomax. I don’t think that you’ll have to pour hot wax down your ears, but I wasn’t able to test them out yet. Prices range from $199-249.

8) Perhaps the overall winner tonight is ZAGG, which makes sexy leather skins for Apple products. Their newest invention is the best looking iPad keyboard accessory on the market. It’s design is so simple, sleek and portable it will be topping your Christmas list. And the best part is the whole set up only costs $99.

The Parrot AR Drone is still zipping around. And as first reported by The Droid Guy, Noel Lee, Head Monster at Monster Cable has revealed that the artist for the 2011 CES concert will be Earth Wind and Fire, who are still in their original line up, celebrating their 40th year in the music business. In other news, Reeses Peanut Butter cups is the official candy sponsor of the 2011 CES.

Courtney Boyd Myers is the founder of audience.io, a transatlantic company designed to help New York and London based technology startups grow internationally.
Previously, she was the Features Editor and East Coast Editor of TNW covering New York City startups and digital innovation. She loves magnets + reading on a Kindle.
You can follow her on Facebook, Twitter @CBM and Google +.